that takes us to mid-march. which means that a billion catholics around the world should have a new pope by easter. diane? >> all right, jeffrey, thank you. and, of course, that new pope will have to face the call for change, from many people in the american catholic church. there are 77.7 million catholics here in the united states. nearly 1 in 4 of us is catholic. and rhode island, new jersey and massachusetts still have the highest concentration of catholics. but in sheer numbers, the biggest growth is among hispanics. and abc's cecilia vega spent the day gathering american reaction from all over. cecilia? >> reporter: diane, good evening. we're here at st. mary's cathedral in san francisco and as you said, we've been speaking with catholics all day long. and i will tell you, boy, the surprise does not even begin to describe the reaction here. at first, there was shock. very early this morning, the pope announced that he is resigning. >> oh, really? oh, my god. >> reporter: and then, there were prayers. >> pr